Just when we thought there was nothing to celebrate in 2020, organisers of the Sports Personality of the Year Awards (Soya) pulled it off, yet again.
Indeed, I expected absolutely nothing, leave alone awards, this year, considering there was no real action across the sporting fraternity apart from a few at the tail end.
Of course, we had the Kip Keino Classic Continental Tour leg in Nairobi last October and a few Diamond League races for selected athletes, but these alone could not form the basis for the awards.
However, Soya organisers had other ideas and they did just fine.
First, combining a seminar and awards was a brilliant idea in a year when we had nothing.
The events attracted athletes across all sporting disciplines including — athletics, swimming, volleyball, taekwondo, boxing, hockey and football among others.
The seminar, especially, was something new in the Soya circles and things worked out just perfectly.
The topics chosen were equally insightful and relevant to the post-corona period for the athletes.
The organisers deliberately settled for topics like mental health, media and branding, doping, managing success and failure and investments.
It is no-brainer that most athletes have suffered a lot mentally during the corona period and it is not fair for the sporting fraternity to assume that all is just fine.
To take the athletes through the topic was Kanyali Ilako who touched on all corners of mental health.
IMG managing director Charles Gacheru also reminded the athletes that they were not special the way they have always thought and unless they embrace one of the seven MDGs, they were bound to be ignored by the corporate world.
Former Olympic 800m champion Wilfred Bungei and Wangui Kibe did not also disappoint as he deliberated on the thin line between success and failure for athletes while Nation Media Group Editor (Sports) Elias Makori dealt conclusively with the relationship between the media and athletes.
Sarah Shibutse of the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) equally reminded the athletes of their responsibility to ensure they train hard and win easy without using performance enhancing substances.
Multiple distance running champion Lornah Kiplagat spoke on the importance of prudent investment by athletes.
The seminar was capped by an evening dinner, where, again, the awards were unique.
We are talking about athletes who were innovative during the pandemic and those who did something to uplift their sisters and brothers within the spheres. There were also athletes who performed well during the period despite the challenges.
Going forward, I recommend that the seminar be part and parcel of the Soya Awards because this way, we will be able to review the year and see how we fared as a sports fraternity.
With such topics like the ones exhibited in Naivasha, we will be able to enlighten our athletes on a number of things in a bid to ensure we package them properly for life beyond the sport. By DAILY NATION